- The Lead: The MIT softball team moved atop the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) standings this afternoon as the Engineers took two games from Clark University on Briggs Field. MIT defeated Clark, 8-3, in game one before shutting out the Cougars, 9-0, over six innings in game two.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Game #1: MIT 8, Clark 3

-Senior Jasmin Joseph (Woodland Hills, Calif.) earned a walk to open the game, moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by sophomore Devon Goetz (Rockville, Md.) and moved to third on an infield single by senior Amanda Lee (Saratoga, Calif.). During Sarah Von Ahn's (West Linn, Ore.) at-bat, Joseph gave MIT the 1-0 lead on a wild pitch.

- In the fourth, the Engineers added three runs to their total one of which came on a steal of home by Goetz. With two outs in the frame, sophomore Madi Pickett (Santa Barbara, Calif.) cleared the bases with a two-run double to left center to extend MIT's lead to 4-0. Clark, however, answered with two runs of its own in the bottom of the fourth as the Cougars earned a bases loaded walk before junior Taylor Erickson (Natick, Mass.) hit a sacrifice fly to center to bring home Sami West (Gonic, N.H.).

- MIT put the game out of reach by scoring two in both the fifth and the sixth innings. In the fifth, Sierra Rosenzweig (Anchorage, Alaska) came around to score on a three base throwing error by the Cougars before Joseph was brought in by Goetz on a squeeze bunt. In the sixth, Rosenzweig and Joseph teamed up to produce MIT's seventh and eighth runs as Rosenzweig plated Pickett on an RBI double to left and Joseph brought in Rosenzweig on an infield bunt.

- MIT junior Ravenne Nasser (Methuen, Mass.), who came on in relief in the third inning, returned to the circle for the bottom of the seventh and got the Cougars out 1-2-3 to preserve the game one win, 8-3.

- Nasser earned the win in relief for the Engineers as she moved to 9-2 this spring. In 3.2 innings, Nasser allowed three hits, one earned run and struck out four Cougars. Classmate Amber VanHemel (Coconut Creek, Fla.) made the start as she tossed 3.1 innings and allowed three hits, two earned runs, two walks and struck out four. West shouldered the loss for Clark as she lasted five innings, allowed four hits, six runs (one earned), two walks and struck out four batters.

Game #2: MIT 9, Clark 0

- The Engineers exploded for nine runs in game two and Campbell shutdown Clark's bats with 12 strikeouts to secure the sweep. Scoreless until the top of the fourth inning, MIT pushed two across to take a 2-0 lead. Von Ahn began the frame with a double to center field and was brought home on an RBI single to right center by Rosenzweig. After moving to third on a base hit by Wist, Rosenzweig stole home for the Engineers second run.

- Two doubles and a single accounted for the three MIT runs in the very next inning. Lee doubled home Joseph, Von Ahn doubled in Lee and Wist lined a base knock up the middle to bring home Von Ahn for the 5-0 lead.

- The Engineers put the game away in the top of the sixth inning with four more runs. Senior Zoe Hinton (Aurora, Colo.) led off with a walk, moved to second and eventually third on wild pitches and came across to score on a fielding error by Clark. Later in the frame with runners on second and third, freshman Phoebe Li (Morganville, N.J.) notched her first career triple which scored Goetz and Joseph and Li scored MIT's ninth run on an RBI double by Von Ahn.

- Colleen Campbell (Snoqualmie, Wash.) improved to 5-1 with a complete game two-hit shutout which featured a career-high 12 strikeouts. The freshman allowed just one walk and threw just 86 pitches in the shutout effort for the Engineers. Clark's Brenna Foley (Charlton, Mass.) (2-6) took the loss on 4.1 innings, eight hits, four earned runs and one strikeout.

UP NEXT

-Clark travels to Babson on Tuesday, April 10th to take on the Beavers in NEWMAC action at 3:00 p.m. and 5:00 p.m.

- MIT will travel to Eastern Connecticut State University on Tuesday, April 10 for its next set of games. The Engineers will play two against the Warriors with game times slated for 4:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m.